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Image: BMW-i.com

The positive trend continues for electric vehicles. Today, BMW unveiled its first mass-produced electric vehicle, the BMW i3, which is expected to reach U.S. markets in 2014, at a cost just over $41,000 (before incentives or federal tax credit). For customers wanting to tackle the issue of ‘range anxiety’ – the fear of running out of electric charge – another $4,000 will get you a small gasoline-powered back-up motor. BMW’s Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer is quoted in the Wall Street Journal as positioning the firm for the coming decades. In order to comply with current and anticipated regulations, Reithofer indicated “we need about 30% plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles for the year 2025.”

All of these car companies are positioning themselves with the expectation that the market will be there. Recent news from the U.S. on that front is somewhat encouraging: Sales of EVs for the first half of 2013 reached 41,447 according to autos.aol.com, over twice the rate of sales in 2012. While this represents just over 1% of total U.S. auto sales, the trend is currently moving in the right direction. Thirteen models of plug-ins now populate our roads, and more are coming.

It may still be too early to predict whether the U.S. will see the 1.8 million EV’s in 2020 forecast by Pike Research. However, it is worth noting that the current EV adoption rate exceeds that of the Toyota Prius in the first thirty months after it was introduced (over 110,000 versus 50,000). In the years since, the Prius has become one of the most popular vehicles on American roads - last year 236,000 were sold. The EV trend continues to pick up momentum and continues to bear watching.

Correction: the cost of the Tesla Model S was incorrectly listed in the original post as $69,900 including the federal tax credit. That price is actually before the federal tax credit of $7,500 is applied).